


One Might Call It Providence

by audiaphilios



Series: From Tumblr With Lo-- [4]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Collaboration, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-23
Updated: 2016-05-23
Packaged: 2018-06-10 05:25:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6941695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/audiaphilios/pseuds/audiaphilios
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bitty gets his start in the meal delivery business thanks to very good advice from very good friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Might Call It Providence

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rhysiana](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhysiana/gifts).



> This is part of the meal delivery AU started by rhysiana and elaborated on jacksbits, me, and  imaginarycircus. Go read the other fics!
> 
> [Originally posted to tumblr May 19, 2016.](http://audiaphilios.tumblr.com/post/144586402055/jacksbits-rhysiana-au-concept-bitty-runs-a)

Jack goes to the NHL after his time in rehab instead of Samwell. The Falconers know what was up. Bitty goes to Samwell and plays hockey and bakes and majors in American Studies with a focus in food culture. His pals Shitty, Lardo, and Holster end up in Boston– law school, art, and the Bruins, respectively. 

Bitty ends up cooking for all of them regularly, since their hours are all over the place and lord knows they’d never eat properly otherwise. He’s working at a bakery, but his heart’s not really in it– he’s not allowed to fiddle with the recipe, and it doesn’t pay well enough for him to bite his tongue as hard as he does. He’s looking for options in the area, and actually gets a lead in Providence. He’d hate to leave Boston and his friends, but the money, as well as the creative freedom, would be worth it. He goes down to visit, and kind of falls in love with Providence. Unfortunately, the job falls through, but he’s got this dream of Providence in his heart now.

In the meantime, his bagged lunches for Holster catch the Bruins’ nutritionist’s attention. Holster gets asked if he can bring Bitty by for a consult, which our sweet little Southern boy is more than happy to help with. Shitty stops him, however, because only an idiot gives free advice to a multi-million dollar corporation, and why hasn’t Shitty thought of this before?

_Bits, you know how hockey players eat, and how they should be eating. You could be a food consultant!_

Bitty’s not entirely sure, but he does hammer out a consulting fee with Shitty, and sets up an initial meeting with the team nutritionist. Needless to say, they get on like a house on fire, and Bitty gets paid a lovely sum to help develop meal plans for the Bruins, crafting each player’s weekly allowances and meal charts with attention to allergies, preferences, and nutritional goals. The nutritionist, after all, is there for the numbers. Bitty brings the flavor.

Even better, this leads to a follow-up job with the team. A lot of the younger players, and the single ones in general, have no clue how to cook. Bitty offers a six-week training course for the six meals common to most of their meal plans, and teaches those boys how to prepare feasts– at least, that’s what it looks like to them. Bless their little hearts, the simple darlings.

After that project is done and the money in the bank, Bitty has a serious sit-down with himself. He loved the creativity and problem-solving required to plan the meals, but he wonders how he could make it an ongoing gig. He talks about it with his friends, including the Bruins’ nutritionist, who’s also now Bitty’s #1 fan. The nutritionist is the one that mentions custom grocery shopping and ready-made meals, in fact. And the nutritionist happens to know their counterpart with the Falconers, and sets up a meeting.

Lardo helps design his logo, business cards, website and letterhead. Shitty helps design his business plan and contract. Holster signs the first contract, insisting that he more than owes Bitty for all the food he’s prepared for him over the years, and he doesn’t mind paying for Bitty to keep providing it after he moves away.

So he leaves his friends, but he’s master of his own world. Each day is a creative challenge, and while he doesn’t necessarily get to know any of his clients personally, he gets to know them, in a strange way, on a more intimate level: their tastes, their homes, the aspirations they have for their bodies and their game. The things they like and don’t like. But he doesn’t really get to know any of them.

Until the day that Jack Zimmermann forgot to call.


End file.
